Interesting and Unbelievable Facts

Kanchenjunga, also known as Kangchenjunga, is the 3 rd highest mountain in the world. It has an elevation of 8,586 m (28,169 feet). Kanchenjunga is the 2 nd highest mountain in the Himalayas after Mt. Everest.  Kanchenjunga is located at the border of Nepal and India . It is the 2 nd highest mountain in Nepal (after Mt. Everest) and the highest in India. This mountain contains five  hills.  Two are present in Nepal, while the other three are located directly on the border between Nepal and Sikkim ( India ). Kanchenjunga was considered the highest mountain in the world from 1847 to 1852. Surveyors placed it in 3 rd position after discovering  Mt. Everest in 1852 and K2 in 1856. Kanchenjunga was first climbed in May 1955 by two English mountaineers, Joe Brown and George Band. However, their ascent ended a few feet before the summit due to its religious significance to the local population. The first ascent to Kanchenjunga  ended  without touching the summit In 1979, thr

The Bowhead whale is one of the baleen whales. Like other baleen whales, it is among the heaviest and largest animals.  It is one of the few species of whales  and the  only member  of baleen whales endemic to the waters of the  Arctic and subarctic region . They spend their entire life in this freezing water. The name of these whales is due to the  triangular shape of their massive head. This unique shape and size of the head are helpful for bowhead whales to break through the ice of the Arctic. Due to its presence in this polar area, the bowhead whale is also known as Arctic Whale, Great Polar Whale, and Greenland right whale. Bowhead whales can dive up to  500 feet (150 m) . They can remain underwater in a single dive for less than 20 minutes. Their average  speed  is in the range of 2 to 5 km/h. At the time of danger, they can increase this speed by up to 10 km/h (6.2 m/h). A vital feature of the Bowhead whale is its extraordinarily large mouth. Bowhead whales have the l

Taklamakan Desert is present in Xinjiang , an autonomous region in Northwest China.  It is the largest, warmest, and driest desert in China . With an area of around 337,000 km 2 , Taklamakan is the 16 th largest desert in the world and the 4 th largest in Asia  (behind the Arabian, Gobi , and Thar deserts).  During the last 1000 years, the area of this desert has increased nearly 100 km towards the south. More than 85% of the Taklamakan Desert is composed of mobile dunes. This feature makes it the world’s 2 nd largest shifting sand desert after Rub al Khali in Saudi Arabia .  Dust storms can take the sand from the Taklamakan to the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, and North America. Taklamakan Desert lies within the Tarim Basin, the largest inland basin in China. The Tarim River is the largest inland river in China. It mainly flows through this desert. The large mountain ranges surround the Taklamakan desert from three sides. These include Pamirs in the west, Tien Sh

Ostrich, a flightless bird, is the largest living bird . The height of an adult male is more than 7 feet.  Ostrich also lays the largest egg  of any bird. On average, these eggs are 13 cm wide, 15 cm long, and weigh 1.4 kg. Ostrich eggs are the smallest ones relative to the size of the bird . These eggs are just 1 to 4% the size of the female ostrich. Ostriches have  three stomachs  and an extremely long intestine that takes 36 hours to digest food, pebbles, and other hard materials. This complex digestive system is the reason for ostriches having separate systems for urination and defecation. All the other birds have a single system for both of these functions. ( Source ) An important feature that distinguishes ostriches from other birds is  two toes  on each foot. Flying birds have four toes on each foot, while other flightless birds have three toes per foot. Ostrich’s eye is 5 meters across. It is bigger than the bird’s brain and the  largest eye of any living land animal. There

The scorpion is an invertebrate animal of class arachnids. It is distinguishable from other animals of its class through pair of grasping claws and a segmented tail with a venomous stinger. So far, more than 1,750 species of scorpions have been discovered.  Out of these large number of known species, only about  25 have venom  that can prove fatal for humans. Almost all the lethal scorpions are part of the family known as  “Buthidae.”  Scorpions of this family are present in many parts of the world, especially in North Africa and the Middle East. There is a misconception that scorpions commit suicide when surrounded by fire. In reality, scorpions and many other animals  do not commit suicide  under any circumstances. ( Source ) It is a wrong assumption that female scorpions commonly consume males after mating or that males sacrifice themselves. In fact,  sexual cannibalism  is rare among scorpions, and it only happens in case of food deprivation. ( Source ) Scorpions can  live with